


One of Us

by SYNODICDRMS



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28887639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SYNODICDRMS/pseuds/SYNODICDRMS
Summary: In which Eleanor Weasley was sorted into Hufflepuff.Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/Fred Weasley, Cedric Diggory/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lee Jordan/George Weasley
Kudos: 9





	1. September 1rst, 1988.

"FREDERICK GIDEON WEASLEY, SO HELP ME GODRIC, I'M GOING TO HEX YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!" A girl no larger than four feet tall shrieked from the top of the Weasley burrow, her boots planted firmly on the creaking wood of the top of the staircase. Her fists were balled in tight fists and the tips of her ears glowed a fiery red, almost matching the shade of strawberry that her wavy hair was. "I told you to leave Belly alone!"  


In her hands, a tiny Siamese kitten that she had rescued only two months ago meowed in response, its tiny head poking out over the pale skin of the little girl's hand. "Then keep him out of my things! It's not that hard to keep control of it— at least Percy can keep his rat under control." Her brother spoke, rolling his eyes. The girl mimicked him before setting her kitten down on her own bed.  


The 11-year-old took a last glance around the room that she'd spent the previous years of her life in, day in and day out, learning muggle arithmetic, playing music (both muggle and otherwise) on her record player that had been handed down to her from her father, brainstorming pranks with her brothers, and just anything else you could think of. Each of the triplets had twin beds pressed into one corner, and they shared a desk in the fourth and final corner. Eleanor slept in the gray bed on the right side of the door, George's bed was in the corner above her, and Fred's was to the left of that. They had always shared a room despite Eleanor being the only girl in their trio, much to her growing distaste, but since her younger sister's room was more of a guest room than anything, she stuck with Fred and George. And after today, she wouldn't be sharing any longer, since the three would be joining their brothers Charlie and Percy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  


Hogwarts has been a place that Eleanor had only dreamed of going since she was old enough to comprehend stories of it, and even though it was practically set in stone that she'd attend, it still sent her spirits over the moon when she received her acceptance letter earlier in the summer. And now the day had arrived, and she'd be arriving at the school in just a few hours.  


"Eleanor and Fred Weasley! Stop dilly-dallying and let's go!" Percy Weasley called from the bottom of the staircase, which caused the two to grab their trunks and Belly, and go downstairs. The rest of their family was already congregated at the door, ready to leave. "There you two are. I can't even imagine the amount of trouble you two are going to get into with being late."  


The girl scoffed at her brother's uptight attitude and continued out the door, her hope for the upcoming year billowing like a flower in her heart.

———

After a long and suspenseful train ride and a boat ride towards the castle, Fred, George, and Eleanor stood at the entrance to the great hall, listening to a woman dressed in beautiful green robes speak of the sorting ceremony that the trio had endless stories about.  


"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall spoke with great pride in her words, which lifted a smile to the pale redhead's lips. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats and begin, you must be sorted into your houses. The sorting of houses is a very important ceremony here, because while you attend and live in the castle, your house will be your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitories, and spend free time in your common room. The four houses are Gryffindor—"  


George nudged his sister with his elbow on her left, and Fred copied his actions on her right side. The girl did nothing more than nudging them both back, shaking her head a little at their actions. "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The sorting hat ceremony will take place momentarily in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you fix yourselves up and get ready as you wait."  


She turned away and spoke to some other teacher while George and Fred turned away from their sister, going to whisper with some of their friends that they had made on the train. Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, and Alicia Spinnet were their names. They were very nice people— but, Eleanor had refrained from doing much more than small talk with the others. She stayed to herself and spent most of her time reading her Herbology textbook and petting her precious kitten before it would be swept away in its carrier. As the other first years mingled, she looked down at her wand that she had just recently gotten from Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley; it was a gorgeous spruce wood wand with a round sphere at the bottom that gradually lead up into what looked like a constellation map of little stars that were raised on the surface of the wand in a slightly darker stain of the wood. It was perfect eleven and a half inches long with good flexibility and bendiness, as Mr. Ollivander had told her. It had a core of dragon's heartstring, which means that the girl would be a quick learner with a good understanding of her lessons, and she would be able to produce many flamboyant spells that could do a lot of good in the wizarding world. Eleanor had found this beautiful, and while awaiting their entrance to the great hall (which had apparently been pushed back because of some accident by the house of Gryffindor, and it was being handled accordingly), she had lost track of her surroundings.  


That was, until she felt a tap on the back of her shoulder. She turned around immediately, only to be faced with the flushed face of a brunette boy, with beautiful gray eyes and a smile that sparkled in the golden light of the staircase. He extended his hand towards the girl, his voice bright and enthusiastic. "Hi, I'm Cedric, and I like your hair."  


Eleanor was a little taken aback by the compliment, but nonetheless, she took his hand and shook it strongly, smiling in return. "Hello Cedric, I'm Eleanor Weasley. I like your eyes."

———

There had to be a mistake.  


There was no way in hell that a Weasley, a family of Gryffindors through and through, had produced a Hufflepuff.  


And there was some kind of mistake because Eleanor couldn't have possibly been separated from her brothers, especially the ones that she shared a damn womb with. They shared DNA, for Merlin's sake.  


What would Molly think of this? Her only child so far, tainting the bloodline of bravery and the fiery courage that Gryffindors possessed with the lowly shyness and soft kindness of Hufflepuffs. She'd surely have Eleanor's head— Merlin's beard, what about Arthur? He'd be furious!  


A single tear slipped down the pale face of the first-year girl as the Hufflepuff prefects led the group of mostly giddy first years to the common room in a sea of clattering dress shoes and newly enchanted, canary yellow robes. They ventured down some stone stairs to a basement hallway with stacks of barrels upon barrels, the very faint smell of freshly baked cookies wafting into the hallway.  


"Listen here, first years. Before we enter, there are some ground rules that we must set. This hallway happens to be shared by the kitchens, so there's sometimes house elves running around in the storage room. Don't pay much mind to them— and if you do, please be polite. They might spare you a cookie or two if you're lucky. Besides that, there's not really much disturbance down here." The girl prefect spoke first, a smile on her lips.  


"Exactly. This is because we just so happen to be the only house with a method of repelling intruders rather than just denying access. Now, our password is not particularly hard to remember, but it's not that easy either. In order to enter, you must tap the second to bottom barrel, all the way on the left." The male at her side said next, stepping over to said barrel and motioning to it with the tip of his wand. "Now, you must tap it in the rhythm of the words 'Helga Hufflepuff', our glorious and wonderful founder. Everyone practice on your hands before we enter."  


The group of children drew their wands, tapping them five times in rhythm with the syllables of the name of their founder.  


"Good! Now, just remember, if you forget the password, wait for someone else to come and help you out, because if you get it wrong, you'll end up being sprayed with vinegar. And trust me, the smell doesn't come out of your robes." The male prefect finished before tapping his own wand against the barrel, which caused a soft rumbling sound to surround the first years. The barrels all shifted to the right, leaving a hallway on the left side. In a single file, the group entered the hallway and walked into the warm common room.  


And as much as Eleanor wanted to hate the room, she absolutely couldn't. It was beautifully cozy— her eyes latched onto the large, circular, room made of cream-colored stone that was coated in a blanket of golden light, various couches and comfortable chairs scattered around the area and draped in black and yellow blankets and woven tapestries. Vines hugged the stone and crawled up along the ceiling, along with various other plants hanging from wicker pots on the ceiling and little ceramic holders on shelves. Two giant circular doors flanked the right and left of the basement, leading into hallways and more circular doors that housed the group dormitories.  


The prefects didn't do much else after they had entered the common room except talk about the bathrooms and laundry services, along with where the head of house, Professor Sprout, had her office, and curfew times. They allowed everyone to finally go and find their dorms, which each held four people. Eleanor walked down the right hallway to her room, which was the fifth one down on the left side of the all. She walked into the room that she would be begrudgingly calling home for the next seven years, a sigh tumbling from her lips. Inside were three other girls that were giggling and mingling while unpacking their things, which only made the young girl's stomach churn with anxiousness. Thankfully, they were all a little too enthralled in their own conversation to notice the redhead walking in and claiming the final open bed.  


Belly meowed quietly as Eleanor let him out of his carrier, his tiny body almost immediately jumping to settle on the silky gold of her pillowcase. The girl only laughed softly to herself before opening her trunk, which was laid on the patchwork quilts of her bedspread beside some new items of clothing that were in her house colors. There was two sweaters— one black, and one that was the same gray as her skirt— that had small yellow, white, and black lines along the neckline, sleeve, and bottom cuffs, along with a tie, a scarf, and a pair of earmuffs in the same house colors of yellow and black. Eleanor set those beside before unpacking her clothing from home and putting them all away in her wardrobe, along with her shoes and other things.  


"Oh look, there's our final roommate!" A high pitched voice gasped from behind Eleanor, which only made her huff beneath her breath and try not to acknowledge it. But, much to her dismay, the girl who had noticed walked up and tapped the redhead on the shoulder. "Hi! It's wonderful to meet you."  


Turning around, the Weasley girl put on a sweet smile, greeting the rest of her roommates with a small wave. "Hi."  
Two girls with glowing and beautiful skin the color of chocolate smiled and waved excitedly from their beds, their hair bouncing slightly with their movements. Eleanor almost immediately felt insecure around so many pretty girls already, along with the fact that they had clicked so fast.  


"That's Clara Waters and Lyra Brownston." The girl that had got up said, pointing to the girl with long and fluffed out curls when she said Clara, and the straight haired girl when she said Lyra. "And I'm Melanie Burbank. What's your name?"  


Melanie was a girl no taller than Eleanor, her hair kept in a curly and voluminous cut that hit just below her shoulders. She had the same gray eyes that the boy that Eleanor had met earlier had, and freckles that were just like her own. "I'm Eleanor Weasley, nice to meet you all."  


"As in Charlie Weasley? As in Gryffindor seeker Charlie Weasley?" Clara's eyes grew as wide as saucers, her mouth hanging open. The redhead sighed and nodded, which only caused the two girls that were lounging on the bed to gasp and squeal. "Oh my gosh! That's so cool!"  


"Sometimes, yeah. He can be a git a lot of the time." The girl huffed, sitting back down on her bed. "He's probably fuming right now."  


"Why would he be upset?"  


"I'm the only Weasley that hasn't made Gryffindor. I'm a triplet and both of my brothers got sorted there, and I got sorted here."

———

After a night of restless tossing and turning, Eleanor had grown a little less upset. I mean, she had great roommates, she had woken up to the smell of sweet caramel and freshly baked cookies, and the golden light and happiness of the common room at 8 AM really brightened her spirits.  
Clara had taken the liberty of waking everyone up and ushering them out to breakfast, which definitely wasn't taken well by the other three. Nonetheless, the quad of girl walked together to the great hall, where breakfast was waiting for them. Plethoras of fruits, french toast, pastries, and various other breakfast foods spread across each of the house tables, and Eleanor was sure she had never seen so much food in her life— well, not counting last night's feast.  


The girls were some of the first people to arrive at the Hufflepuff table, so they all sat together and began to dig in. After a few minutes of mostly eating and just random chats between each other, the girls' trains of thought was interrupted by another group of people sitting down across from them.  


Three boys had taken their seats across the table, rubbing sleep from their eyes between yawns. There was a dirty blonde boy with golden skin to match, a boy with a similar peachy skin tone and lighter brunette hair, and the blushing boy that Eleanor had met yesterday. Just as the last boy was about to greet the ginger, Melanie looked up at the group that had arrived and groaned.  


"Merlin, Cedric, why did you have to sit here? I get that you're codependent but this is a little much—"  
She scowled, confusing the rest of the girls.  


"Don't flatter yourself, Mel, we chose here because I wanted to check in on my friend here— Eleanor, was it?" He motioned towards the ginger girl, who was reading over her Potions textbook while eating a pear. She looked up, pear in mouth, with wide eyes, confused. "Cedric Diggory? Ring a bell? We met before sorting."  


She swallowed her bite and nodded, her cheeks glowing pink from embarrassment. "I know, I'm just a bit confused on why you'd want to check on me."  


"Well, I thought you seemed nice when we met, first off, and second, I know that you got separated from your family and just wanted to ask if you were alright."  


Eleanor gulped in response. "To be honest, my brothers are the least of my worries. I'm terrified that my mum and dad will be mad at me, but hopefully, they don't do anything too drastic—"  


As if on cue, a commotion entered the great hall in a flurry of crimson robes and red hair. "Eleanor!"  
The four other Weasleys that were currently at Hogwarts stormed over to the Hufflepuff table, Percy leading the pack as the other three attempted to stop him. He was first to reach the first year, his face twisted in a powerful scowl.  


"Good job Eleanor, now you've really messed this all up! We get called blood traitors enough, and now you had to go and bloody get sorted into—" He fumed as Charlie reached him, yanking his shoulder back and shoving him out of the way.  


"Please don't listen to that git— are you alright?" The eldest looked at the absolutely petrified group of first years behind his sister, who's cheeks were a flaming red. But, as you'd likely expect, it wasn't from anger. It was with rage.  


Without saying anything, she rose from her seat, grabbed Charlie's arm, reached up and grabbed Percy by the lobe of his ear, and dragged them both out of the great hall. Fred and George, who were giggling their heads off, walked after them, high-fiving with pride. Once in the hallway, McGonagall had followed them, about to scold Percy, but she had stepped back to let the young girl do it herself.  


"Merlin's beard, what on earth were you lot thinking? Storming into breakfast on my first bloody day screeching like banshees?" She fumed, her arms crossed over her shoulders as her ears and cheeks glowed red with rage. "And Percy, I've had just about enough of you. I can't control what happened. It's bad enough that I don't know what Mum and Dad will say, but I don't need you yelling at me about it. Charlie, thank you for stopping him."  


"Mum and Dad won't care about what house you made, El. They'll be proud of you no matter what." Charlie put his hand on her shoulder before grabbing Percy's arm and dragging him away.  


She nodded before looking at the last two, who were holding in laughter. As soon as they all looked at each other, the triplets burst out into fits of laughter. Nothing was said as they entered back into the great hall, smiles on their faces as they all walked Eleanor back to her seat.  


"Merlin's beard, remind me not to tick you off." The brunette boy beside Cedric said, blowing off a bite of eggs before popping it in his mouth and holding out his hand. "I'm Finneas Argent, Finn for short."  


"And I'm Blaine." The blonde at his side jut his hand out, both of them reaching over the fruit bowl to shake hands with the redhead.  


"Nice to meet you Finn and Blaine." The girl grinned, shaking both of their hands firmly. "I'm Eleanor."  


"Yeah, I'm definitely not calling you Eleanor." Cedric spoke up, poking a sausage with his fork, shrugging casually.  


"And why not?" The redhead said, raising an eyebrow at him.  


"It sounds like some ancient wizard name, like Merlin."  


"And what's wrong with that, Diggory?"  


"I feel like a nickname should be in order, if we're going to be friends, which I expect we will."  


"Well, my siblings call me El, if that could give you any ideas." The girl went back to eating her pear, Clara speaking up next.  


"I like that, it's cute. I'm definitely calling you El from now on." She said, the rest of the girls nodding in agreement.  


Cedric didn't respond and the subject ended up fading into talks about Potions and Charms classes and meeting the teachers as the children finished up breakfast. As soon as wind chimes sounded throughout the hall, all of the children began to raise from their seats, collect their things, and head to class. After comparing timetables, it was found that only Cedric and Eleanor had Charms first block, so the redhead awaited the brunette boy, who had been a little quiet for the latter half of breakfast.  


The two walked to Charms in almost silence, anxiousness stirring in the girl's stomach in anticipation of her first class ever. It was only assumed that Cedric was feeling the same— he looked awfully focused on something in that brain of his, his bottom lip caught in his teeth as his eyebrows furrowed lightly. He remained in that state of mind before the duo had reached the Charms classroom, where he looked at Eleanor with a mischievous grin.  


"What are you planning..." She looked at him with major skepticism, her eyebrow flicking up at him. "You look like you're plotting my murder."  


"I've decided what your nickname is going to be." He said matter of factly, tapping her shoulder with the tip of his wand before spinning it in his fingers.  


"And? What might that be?"  


"Ellie. I'm going to call you Ellie, and no one else is allowed to call you that." He stood up straight, which only made the young girl scoff.  


"Really? Well, it's not that bad, as long as you don't overuse it." She shrugged. "But why can't anyone else call me that?"  


"Because I came up with it, and I would like to claim my credit, thank you very much." He grinned. "Now come on, Ellie, we wouldn't want to keep Flitwick waiting."

———

By the end of the day, after a brief run-through of three block periods (Charms, Transfiguration, and History of Magic), Eleanor was about ready to crawl into bed and sleep forever. Walking and learning so much new information all in one sitting was terribly draining, and having Cedric practically glued to her side, yelling 'Oh Ellie' this and 'Come on Ellie' didn't help. But, the girl finally reached her final class, which was Potions with Professor Snape. This was the only class of hers where she didn't have any friends in, including Fred and George, and after hearing horror stories of Snape, the girl definitely was not looking forward to the class.  


And of course, with her luck, there was barely anyone from houses other than Slytherin. And the only other people there were two Ravenclaws that were whispering and looking straight at the redhead. She did nothing but sit silently at an empty table, sighing slightly. She went back to studying her Potions textbook from where she left off this morning, zoning out the people around her momentarily.  


"Is anyone sitting here?" A voice asked from the other side of the table, which caused Eleanor to look up from her book. She met eyes with several people, actually— there were two boys, one with caramel-colored skin and nicely kept, curly hair, a boy with messy dark brown hair and steel, gray eyes, and a girl with a head of soft blonde hair. They were all wearing emerald green robes, which only made the Weasley girl more nervous. She shook her head, motioning to the four empty seats at the table. The curly-headed boy grinned at her with a beautiful smile, his cheeks equipped with deeply set dimples. "Thank you..."  


"Eleanor Weasley." She nodded at them, offering a closed-lipped smile.  


"Oh! You're the one who's brothers made that huge scene at breakfast." The girl piped up next. "The younger ones— George and Fred, was it? They're hilarious. They kept mimicking Mr. Filch during Transfiguration and they kept mentioning how you would've loved their impressions."  


"They talk about me? Dear Godric." The Hufflepuff groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sounds like them. We're triplets, actually, but as you probably heard, I'm the odd one out."  


"I don't think you're odd. I think it's cool that you got sorted into a different house." The curly-haired boy spoke up again. "The hat never lies, you know."  


"Thanks. That's very nice of you." She smiled with her teeth this time, the bridge of her nose scrunching up slightly. "Sorry about my manners— what's your names? I'm sure it'd be beneficial to learn them, considering we'll most likely be partners for the remainder of the term."  


"I'm Theodore, but I go by Theo." The talkative boy said first before nodding towards the others. "She's Emerson, and he's Leo. His full name is Leonardo, but I wouldn't suggest calling him that unless you want to get hexed."  


"Enough mingling, we have work to do." A tall man with shiny black hair and matte black robes that flowed behind him dramatically entered the room, a scowl etched into his lips. "I don't expect very many of you to succeed in this class. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the minds, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death— if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."  


Eleanor gulped, Emerson doing the same. Theo looked half terrified, and Leo kept the same empty and fixed gaze on the teacher. He was still yet to say anything, but the Hufflepuff didn't bother to pay much attention. She was more focused on not failing Snape's class.  


"Since I personally don't think any of you are anywhere near competent enough to even attempt to brew the simplest potions, I've made the decision to meticulously and mindlessly explain the basics of potion-making for this week, and you will all be attempting to make your first potion next week." He stalked around the room, hands clasped behind his back and the scowl that seemed permanent. "And considering that a majority of you are imbeciles and will likely mess up even something as simple as the Cure for Boils, I don't expect that any of you will complete it successfully."  


After at least another thirty minutes of degradation and backhanded comments, the Professor allowed the students to talk quietly amongst their table groups and summarize the basics section in their textbooks on parchment.  


"Merlin, that was rough." Eleanor huffed beneath her breath, dipping her quill in ink before beginning to copy the notes onto her piece of parchment.  


"He's always like that. At least, he has been since last night." Emerson shrugged, grabbing her quill from her backpack. "He's not that bad to the people in our house though— I think he's a little bit worse now that there are people from other houses here. At least there are no Gryffindors, because I think the entire period would just be him calling them incompetent."  


The redhead shivered. Theo laughed from across from her. "You'll be fine, Eleanor. He knows my family, so I don't think he'll give you too much trouble if you stay by me."  


"Someone's full of it." Leo spoke up for the first time, scoffing at his friend. "He just favors Slytherins in general. Don't get your hopes up, Weasley. Just don't cause trouble, and you'll do mediocrely. Like the rest of us."  


The redhead nodded. "I have a feeling he won't like me, even if I lay low. I have the biggest bloody trouble makers for brothers, so, I'm not expecting anything less than hell."  


"Ah, another Weasley. Third first year I've seen today." A grumbly voice sounded from behind the redhead, which caused the entire table of first-years to freeze in terror. "You're the one that ruined the family lineage of Gryffindors, yes?"  


The 11-year-old gulped, the gold tie around her neck feeling awfully tight. "Correct, Professor."  


"Hopefully that means you won't be as much of an incompetent pest as your brothers were and will be." He scoffed, grabbing her parchment from the table. As the professor glanced over her notes, which were halfway finished in beautiful cursive, Eleanor shot wide eyes at Theo. He only blinked back at her, his eyes also wide with terror on her behalf. "I highly doubt that, however. Rewrite these notes— you've seemed to skip over the entire section of Cauldron care. How careless."  


The girl could do nothing but nod, her face hot with embarrassment as she bent back over a fresh piece of parchment. Once the professor had walked away, Emerson nudged the redhead's shoulder. "Are you alright?"  


Theo echoed her, putting down his quill. "Yeah, are you alright? That was... a lot." Before the girl could even answer, Leo began to snicker, his hand covering his mouth. The other three looked at him as if he was a three-headed dog, confusion washing over them. "What's so funny?"  


"Nothing— just, it's hilarious that something like a meaningless comment from Snape can turn you as red as your hair." He said, which only made the girl scowl and get back to writing her notes. "What? It's not like I'm lying."  


And with that, Eleanor did nothing more besides shoving his arm, and smiling to herself.

———

Class finally ended and the group of newfound friends exited the classroom and into the cool and broody dungeon, laughing over some joke that the redhead had made. On their way out, they ended up running into another group of people— three girls and three boys, all from Slytherin. The other three seemed to already know all of them, which left Eleanor confused.  


"A Hufflepuff? Really?" A tall boy with dark eyes to match his hair said, glaring at the short girl.  


"I am a Hufflepuff, are you colourblind or something?" She retorted, her head held high and her arms crossing over her chest. "Is that a problem?"  


"Well you're awfully feisty, aren't you, Weasley?" He stepped forward, Leo's pushing his shoulder back so he couldn't get closer to her. "What, Atkins, is this your girlfriend now?"  


"Shut up, O'Connell. She's our friend." He scowled before turning to the redhead. "Don't mind Vincent. He's a little mad that Snape gave him detention on the first day for acting all high and mighty. These are the rest of my friends. Dominic, Edward, Blythe, Juliet, and Penelope."  


Dominic was a quiet boy with fluffy brown hair, his smile close-lipped, but still polite, contrary to Vincent's scowl. Edward stood beside him, a tiny smile on his lips as he blushed with shyness. His eyes were a heavenly shade of honey, even in the dungeon's dim lighting, and they made Eleanor smile just at the sight. Penelope was a short and pretty girl with long and deep brown hair, the curls pulled back at the top to keep it out of her face. Another girl strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes, who was introduced as Blythe, stood beside Penelope, the two of them smiling and waving at the girl. Juliet, on the other hand, was not smiling. She was a pretty girl with porcelain skin that held not a single flaw, her skin smooth and even-toned. She only scowled at the Hufflepuff, her nose in the air.  


"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Eleanor. Though, you could call me El if you would like. It's simpler." The redhead grinned eagerly. "Theo had suggested that we go and study in the library, would you all like to join us?" 

———

Hours upon hours of laughing and getting to know each other ensued once the group got to the library, and even the group that Eleanor had met from her own house had come to talk and add onto the fun. The girl had quickly realized that they'd all end up being friends for years to come, which in hindsight, didn't seem like the best thing to mention to her brothers. Regardless, the group had moved to the great hall for study time, dinner and mail arrival, which the redhead had been dreading.  


"You'll be fine, El, I'm sure your family won't say anything too bad. The only thing you should be worried about is the fact that it could possibly be a howler." Theo said from across the table, Cedric nodding at the redhead's side.  


"Ellie, I've been telling you since this morning that you'll be fine. Stop stressing." The brunette beside her took a sip of his pumpkin juice. "Why don't you go sit by your family? Maybe that'll make it easier?"  


"Well, I already know that Percy will be getting a howler for this morning, so I half want to avoid that whole situation, but I also would enjoy watching him turn as red as a tomato..."  


"Go, and tell us all about it." Theo insisted from across the table, which made the girl groan and rise from the table. She gathered her things and began to walk over and join her brothers, who beamed when she did walk over.  


"El!" George and Fred exclaimed, smiles identical to her own stretching on their cheeks.  


"Hey guys." She sat down, letting out a breath. "Has Errol came yet?"  


The boys shook their heads, Percy still scowling.  


"I saw you were sitting with a big group of people over there, are those your friends now?" Fred asked, George nodding in tandem with them.  


"Yeah, I met most of them at breakfast and in potions. Snape has it out for me, by the way."  


"That's a load of Slytherins— I'm surprised they haven't scared you off yet." Charlie added. "They can be pretty nasty."  
"

Actually, I get on with them pretty well. We all just keep joking. Though there are two of them that seem to absolutely have it out for me, but it's not particularly a problem. Plus, I have a few friends from my house as well there too. It's not much of a problem." The girl said, looking over at Melanie and Cedric, who were waving wildly at the Gryffindor table. "They're nice, really."  


Just as George was about to respond, there was a sputter of gasps as a gray owl swooped and swerved into the great hall, a white letter between his talons and a red letter in his beak. Eleanor gulped, Percy looking just as stressed from across the table. Errol dropped the two letters on the table and landed directly onto Percy's head of curls, whacking him with his wing. He left soon after, hooting.  


"The Howler is for Perce, and the Letter is for El." Charlie read the letters, handing them out to their respective receivers. The young girl sighed, the cream envelope feeling heavy in her hands. Her brothers peered over her shoulders, one on each side, awaiting her opening it. "Don't open yours until we hear the howler. Trust me, you'll want to see this."  


Percy hesitantly lifted the wax seal of the howler, the envelope, and letter flying up into the air above them and screeching in Molly Weasley's voice at top volume.  


"PERCY WEASLEY, YOUR FATHER AND I ARE ABSOLUTELY APPALLED AT HOW YOU'VE TREATED YOUR SISTER THIS MORNING, ESPECIALLY IN FRONT OF HER NEW HOUSEMATES AND PEERS, YOUR PROFESSORS AND HEADMASTER, AND YOUR BROTHERS. WE DID NOT RAISE YOU TO ACT AS MALICIOUSLY AND RUDELY AS YOU HAVE, AND WE EXPECT THAT YOU TREAT ELEANOR WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT AND CARE FROM NOW ON, OR ELSE WE WILL HAVE YOU SENT HOME PROMPTLY. Also, to the triplets, congratulations on making Gryffindor, Fred, and George, and congratulations on making Hufflepuff, Eleanor! We love you all very much and are excited to see you all at break." A raspberry noise blew at the mortified and curly-haired boy, the howler ripping itself to pieces.  


The group of Slytherins and Hufflepuffs where Eleanor had come from burst into laughter, clapping a little in a mocking way. It brought a smile to the girl's face as she opened her own letter, the sweet scent of Molly's lip balm that she had kissed the top of the parchment.

—

Dear my sweet Eleanor,  
Congratulations on making Hufflepuff! Your father and I are extremely proud of you and miss you very very much. Professor McGongall owled us as soon as the whole fiasco at breakfast happened, and informed us on exactly what went down. I want to apologize on behalf of Percy's actions— he has absolutely no right treating you like he did. Thankfully, both Charlie and Minerva told me about how you handled him head on, and I'd like to say that I am so proud of your courage and fierceness. I also heard that you've already made many friends despite being afraid, and I'm glad that the Diggory boy and you got on so well. Ron, Ginny, your father and I cannot wait to see you and everyone at home over break, and we hope you keep up the optimistic spirit that you were blessed with.  


We love you, our beautiful girl.  
With love,  
Mum, Dad, Ron, and Ginny.

—

"See, we told you El. They're still proud of you." Fred said, putting his arm around his sister and squeezing her tightly.  
"Exactly! And now you'll get to see us absolutely run your houses' quidditch team into the ground next year." George teased, copying Fred's actions and the two of them squeezing the girl tightly. "And you're the most trustworthy out of the three of us, so we'll get away with more of our pranks."  


"Absolutely. Now, what are we going to do first?"

———

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6256 words  
Completed and Proofread January 18th, 2021  


╰──────༺♡༻──────╯


	2. September 1rst, 1992.

7:45 P.M, BST.  


The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft

and Wizardry.

For the next four years, Eleanor thrived. She had a good and stable group of friends, she had outstanding grades and excelled in all of her classes, even potions, she had made many memories at quidditch matches, leading the team to victory beside Cedric, who was Hufflepuff's star Seeker, as well as cheering on her friends on the Slytherin team, and her brothers, who were on the Gryffindor team. Speaking of her brothers— Fred, George, and Eleanor had wrecked havoc in Hogwarts whenever they possibly could. The boys had specifically grown a reputation of being the schools troublemakers, and their sister was the getaway driver. She was always around to get them out of messes and to craft the most elaborate pranks that wouldn't get them caught, and would give everyone a good laugh. 

After four years, all of the Weasley children had finally stepped foot in Hogwarts and attended at some point. Charlie had graduated after Eleanor's second year, and though it was bittersweet to see him go, Eleanor was absolutely ecstatic to know that he was off in Romania, taking care of and training dragons. Percy had become Prefect of Gryffindor House in her third year, and now, in her fourth, he was Head Boy. Being honest, he was absolutely driving Eleanor and everyone else in the school up a wall with his constant nagging. Ron had arrived at Hogwarts during third year, and he ended up making a friend that had been a very popular topic at school. Harry Potter was the first friend that Ron had ended up making, and Eleanor had grown quite fond of the scrawny boy. The two had also befriended another person, a muggle-born girl that was absolutely brilliant, named Hermione Granger, into their little trio. Ginny would be the last Weasley to be sorted and the last Weasley to graduate, and even though there was a four year age gap between the girls, the older sister couldn't be more excited to have her younger sister with her. As much as she loved her brothers, she truly did need another confident girl that had dealt with them her whole life to help her round up the rambunctious boys. 

———

As expected, Ginny looked absolutely petrified as she was walked into the Great Hall with the rest of the first years. Eleanor couldn't help but laugh slightly to herself— which tore her best friend who was sitting beside her out of his own little world that he had zoned out to. "What? Did I miss something?" 

The redhead girl shook her head. "No, Ced, my sister just looks absolutely terrified to get sorted. I don't think she wants to deal with my brothers more than she already does."

"It'd be refreshing seeing another ginger around the common room. It'd be harder to spot you, though." The brunette joked, which only made the girl roll her eyes. 

"Be quiet. We don't even have the same color hair! Her's is much darker than mine." Eleanor huffed, turning her attention back to the front of the Great Hall. Everyone else at the Hufflepuff table had their eyes glued to the stool, silently hoping for some promising new students, fingers crossed in their laps. It was a muggle tradition that had been passed among the housemates, and had been passed down to the first years every single year since before the Weasley girl had even been sorted into the house. 

Hufflepuff had gained a good few students by the time the letters reached W; six boys and five girls. Hufflepuff was always the smallest house, so getting eleven students was still astoundingly good. 

"Weasley, Ginevra!" McGonagall bellowed, which caused George, and Fred to look over to the Hufflepuff table and make eye contact with their sister, confirming their silent bet of a galleon each that Ginny would be a Gryffindor. In return, if she was a Hufflepuff, each of the boys would owe her one galleon and a box of cauldron cakes. 

The three of them watched impatiently as the sorting hat was placed onto the terrified first years head. It moved its mouth about in a pondering manner for a moment before speaking aloud. 

"Well, if it isn't another Weasley. Another girl this time!" The hat laughed, barely even hovering for another second on the girls head before screeching. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Eleanor groaned, and her brothers rejoiced in the fact that they'd now have an extra galleon in their pockets. "I hate that stupid hat. Still. It really doesn't ever work in my favor."

"Don't worry, El, you've got us instead!" A deep voice sounded from the table behind the pair, a grin spreading over the girls lips.

"Dear Merlin, if I've got you lot.... I'd rather disappear. Call me Professor Quirrel, if you will." She quipped, turning back in her seat to her friends. Theo, Eddie, Emerson, Penny, and Nic grinned back at her, mischief dancing in their eyes. "What are you lot up to?"

"I managed to get my hands on Hagrid's stash of weed." Theo gleamed, leaning across the small space between the tables. "Our dorm at 10:30. Bring the firewhiskey."

"This is why I like Snape." Cedric laughed from the side, leaning across to punch the Zabini boy's shoulder. "Thank Merlin he let you sit with Ellie during first year, because otherwise I think I would have gone absolutely mad by now."

"Cedric, stop acting like life without that stupid muggle invention was so horrible. You were just fine before the end of last term." Melanie scoffed from across the table, Clara and Lyra giggling along with her. Eleanor couldn't help but laugh as well— Mel and Cedric always bickered like toddlers, no matter what. It was just their family nature, and their friends loved to bring up the fact that they were related constantly. 

"You can't tell me that it's not life changing stuff. Absolutely life changing!" He laughed, fist bumping Finn, who was on his other side. "I do have to say, for a majority of the summer I was in absolute space."

"I can confirm. I have a good 15 letters and I ended up with at least 10 howlers from him." Eleanor scoffed. "A waste of paper."

"Come on, Ellie belly, you know you love it." He slung his arm over the girl's shoulder, making her scoff and shove it off of her with a smile. 

"You're not even fifteen yet, Cedric. Act like it." The redhead rolled her eyes. "You should be worrying about the fact that we need to study to even begin to make OWLS next year."

"It's the first day of the term! You need to relax." Lyra commented, her mouth full of mashed potatoes. "You've got your head stuck in a book like that Granger girl that Potter and your little brother run around with. It's shameful, really."

"Listen, if I want to get away with all of the ridiculous things that my brothers and I get into, I have to keep my record squeaky clean across the board." The redhead scoffed. "Plus, my mum likes to see at least one of her children not causing chaos."

"You're coming with us tonight, and you're going to stop being so uptight, Weasley." Blaine finished the conversation, pointing his cup of pumpkin juice towards me. "You can afford a single night of chaos."

———

9:45 P.M, BST.

The Hufflepuff Girls' Dormitories, Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"A single night of chaos. A single night of chaos he said! Has Blaine gone bloody mad?" Eleanor ranted as she rifled through her sweaters, searching for one she could wear for the night. "He must be mental if he think's I'll be spending the first night of the term getting plastered when I've got books to read and pranks to plan. Fred, George and I need to get back at Peeves for those blasted flowerpots that he dropped over us last year."

"El, I have to agree with him. You need to relax for a night, get some weed in your system." Mel replied, looking through her own clothes. "I get you have to keep a squeaky clean record, but it's only one night. After that, you can focus on school."

"Please El? I haven't seen you all summer and I just want to see you have fun." Clara added from the bathroom, messing with their curls in the mirror. She was wearing a simple t-shirt that ended at her mid thighs, and some cuffed blue jeans, along with a pair of white trainers. "It'll be good for you."

"But—"

"No buts. You're coming with us. Even if you sit and read the whole time— I don't want to hear Cedric's whining because you're in your room." Lyra groaned, brushing through her hair that she used sleekeazy on a few days ago. She was also dressed in some jeans, but instead, she paired them with a cardigan and a tank-top.

"And he'll come in here and beg me if i don't go." Eleanor groaned, settling on a grey and green sweater that she had stolen from her best friend before the end of the term last year. She couldn't exactly give it back now— he had grown in height significantly over the summer, as well as in build. She matched the sweater with some straight-legged jeans that nearly dragged on the floor behind her sneakers. "I'll meet you lot at the dorm. I need to mentally prepare myself."

"You'll be perfectly fine, El." Melanie wrapped her arm around the ginger, squishing the sides of their faces together. "It'll be fun, I promise."

"I'll even get Leo to play that music you like— ABBA, is it?" Clara looked out of the doorframe and towards Lyra, who shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'll hold him at wand point until he plays it."

Eleanor laughed at her friend's enthusiasm, her cheeks stretching with her grin. "If you insist. Now come on, Clara, I need to fix my rats nest before we go. Can someone leave food out for Belly?"

Lyra, who had just picked out the fluffy cat, cooed at him and nodded. "I've got it. You're gonna be good while we're gone, right Belly?"

"He'll probably go hang out with McGonagall and Mrs. Norris." Mel snorted, adjusting the loose jeans that hung on her hips, then straightening the short tanktop and oversized hoodie around her shoulders. "A secret cat club."

"No, I don't think Mrs. Norris will be in attendance. Last time she and McGonagall met in the hallway, they got into an awfully loud hissing match."

"Ah, yes! Now Filch glowers at the Transfiguration classroom whenever he passes it." Lyra snickered next, slipping into the bathroom besides Eleanor, who was pinning her hair back behind her ears and fixing her makeup.

"Besides, my cat surely has some decency. I don't think he'd be sneaking around with some creepy man's soulmate— would you call her that?" The ginger laughed along with the rest of her roommates before reapplying strawberry lip gloss from a rollerball applicator. 

The cat conversation was paused as a knock rang through the circular room, an excited voice shouting from behind the giant wooden door. 

"LADIES AND CLARA! THE PARTY HAS ARRIVED!" None other than Finneas Argent bellowed from outside of the door, a few whoops following. "Open up!"

"Hold on a minute, we aren't finished." Lyra groaned, still attempting to sort out her makeup. "You lot can wait."

"Bloody hell, you don't need makeup! It's just us!" Blaine whined.

"Alohamora!" Finn shouted, which promptly caused the door to unlock and shoot open, nearly slamming into the wall. "Well, remind me not to cast spells when I'm plastered."

"That should be a given, Finneas." Eleanor glowered, snatching up Belly before he could escape the dorm. The boy looked at her apologetically, closing the door and holding up a bottle of firewhiskey towards her. "Bribing me won't work."

"Oi, I thought you said you'd cheer her up before we go?" Cedric looked towards Melanie, who shrugged. 

"She was fine until you guys showed up." 

"Maybe it's because Finn nearly crushed her cat." Blaine snorted. 

"That makes sense." The tallest of the lot nodded, looking towards his ginger friend. "Nice sweater, Ellie."

"Thanks, I'd rather put it to good use than it just be stretched out, you know?" She grinned, putting Belly down on the bed and grabbing her wand. "I'm ready to go, we just have to wait for Lyra I believe."

"I'm done, we can go."

"Alright, make sure Haywood doesn't catch us. She was on our arses last year about being out after curfew." 

"She's sleeping, it shouldn't be a problem at all." 

"Then get on with it!"

———

10:23 P.M, BST.

The Slytherin Boys' Dormitories, Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The boy's Slytherin dorms were a comfortable temperature of cool, their wooden beds clad in dark lacquer with elegant posts carved with beautiful engravings that framed the silk curtains of the canopies. Eleanor had always adored the seemingly-foggy atmosphere that floated around, as it brought her a sense of calamity and ease. Though, the place was anything but calm. 

Music oozed from walls and into the stoney hallway, shouts of laughter and drunkenly sang lyrics to 'Come on Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners reverberated around the Hufflepuffs as they arrived at Leo, Eddie, Theo, Nic, and Vinnie's dorm. Finn, of course, was the first one inside, and to all of their surprise, most of the guys— all of them excluding Vinnie, actually— were dancing around the middle of the room, bottles of firewhiskey and beer clutched in their hands like mock microphones. 

"Looks like you lot pregamed without us." Finn laughed, taking another sip of his bottle and joining in. Clara and Lyra bee-lined for Emerson and Penelope, who were snickering about how ridiculous the boys looked. Blaine went to find the weed, while Mel kind of just stood beside the rest of the boys, singing and laughing along. 

"We're friends with a load of idiots." The ginger laughed, glancing up at the brunette boy beside her, who was grinning at everyone. 

"Oh shut up, you love us." He grabbed her arm, tugging her over towards Blaine, who had retrieved the muggle weed and began to roll it into two joints. Cedric was handed the first one, and after lighting it with the tip of his wand and taking a drag, he handed it to Eleanor. "Now, take a couple of hits, and have some fun. You deserve it."

"You think I deserve an awful lot of things, Diggory." She scoffed, copying his actions and lighting the tip of the joint with his— she had decided to leave her wand in the boy’s dorm back in Hufflepuff due to the fact that she’d probably lose it during the party. She inhaled deeply, the buttery smoke fluttering around her respiratory system before rushing out of her in a puff of white smoke with her exhale. "Merlin, I haven't smoked in so bloody long." 

"I know. It's great, isn't it?" He grabbed the joint and took another hit, the smoke billowing around them in magical curls. "And you wonder why I do it so often. Now, care to dance?"

"I'll need another hit before I can do that." She laughed again, taking one last hit before handing him back the joint and grabbing his arm. "Let's go!"

"Relax, for Godric's sake! You forget you have one hell of an arm on you, Ellie. You'll snap me in half!" He chuckled, his voice sweet and smooth like honey. It was like an instant sugar rush to the girls fuzzy brain, and it only drove her to pull him into the group of singing boys faster. 

'Kids in America' came on next, and the group screamed the lyrics and jumped about dramatically like there was no tomorrow, and this repeated for at least another hour, before both Vinnie and Juliet decided to arise from their corner and turn off the '80s mix' vinyl on the turntable. Groans sounded afterwards, and everyone in the room glared at the two.

"Come on! We were listening to that!" Clara said, waving one of her hands out dramatically. Nic, who had his arm around their shoulder, nodded and voiced a slurred agreement, holding his beer out. 

Blaine was next to speak, stepping forward from his spot beside Eddie. "Yeah, what's your two's problem? You've been moping in the corner all night long, and it's bringing down the mood."

"I really don't appreciate the glares I've been getting, actually. I'd like to know as well." Mel stepped up as well, her arms crossed over her chest loosely.

"We don't want to hear anymore trashy muggle music. You lot are dancing around like a bunch of mudbloods who think they can get away with being disgraceful." Juliet scoffed, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. 

"I agree, it's making me sick to my stomach, really." Vinnie chimed in, taking a dramatic swig of his beer. "Let me guess, the blood traitor picked the soundtrack for tonight?"

"Don't you dare call me—" Eleanor nearly lunged at the boy, rage bursting through the cloudy haze of her head.

"Hey! Don't call her that." Theo stepped up to the dark haired boy, his jaw clenched. Leo and Finn flanked him, as always, their demeanors just as hostile.

Though, the menacing Slytherin paid no mind to the posse before him. His eyes were locked with none other than Cedric Diggory, who was absolutely fuming, his hand holding onto the redhead's arm tightly so that she wouldn't lunge at the pair. Even if it seemed that he wanted to lunge as well. "What's your problem, Diggory? You seem awfully ticked off— is it because I called your little girlfriend a blood traitor?"

Eleanor was pulling dangerously strong against the boy at this point, ready to beat Vinnie to a pulp. But, Cedric, holding his temper, managed to ignore the insults, and pull her out of the room, trying to deescalate the situation as best as possible.

"I'm going to bloody hex him one of these days!" The girl shrieked after a few moments as they both walked down the halls, her sneakers stomping along the floors. They were en-route to the Astronomy tower at this point, so they could get some peace and quiet to calm down. "Please tell me you brought that bloody weed with you."

"Of course I did, do you think I'd forget it? I need to block that all out before I go back in there and rip his damn head off." The pair climbed the stairs to the tower two at a time, anger still evident in their tiptoeing.

"Not before I can. Besides— I was just about ready to leave anyway. I desperately need fresh air." She huffed before pushing open the door with her shoulder. Immediately the two were met with warm air and crisp wind, their cheeks cooling with a gust of air. 

The brunette sighed and sat down at the edge, setting the bag of herb and rolling papers beside him while he just stared up at the stars for a moment. The girl followed, gazing up at the deep night sky. 

"Godric, is it clear tonight." She mumbled, gripping the edge of the platform. "You can see Orion so perfectly!"

"What's Orion?" The pink-faced boy asked, turning towards her. The moon shone against his skin in a subtle, shimmery glow, making the gray in his eyes look almost silvery blue. 

"It's a constellation. My favorite, actually. Look." Eleanor pushed the bag of weed behind them and moved so their sides were touching, and pointed towards the sky. She traced the shape of the constellation, a tiny smile on her lips. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Absolutely. Though, it looks awfully like a dancing robot." He burst into a fit of giggles, his eyes squeezing closed as his head dropped slightly. The girl at his side burst into laughter as well, her head falling dramatically onto his shoulder as the two giggled away at the most minuscule of jokes. 

The night continued on like this— laughter, smoking, flip-flopping between serious and deep conversations and lighthearted sarcasm just to see the other smile. Eleanor had forgotten all about the rude names she had been called, and she had finally discovered an activity more calming than reading and planning pranks until the sun came up. 

And that just so happened to be star-gazing with her other half.

———

2:21 A.M, BST.

The Hufflepuff Common Room, Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It was nearly half-past two in the morning before the small group of Hufflepuffs returned to their common room, Clara, Finn, Lyra, Mel and Blaine exausted and nearly falling over. On the contrary, Cedric and Eleanor were as alive and giggly as ever.

"I think I like high Ellie a little bit better than I like normal Ellie." Cedric laughed, plopping down in a random beanbag in the room, waving to the others as they made their way to their dorms. 

"That's rubbish! I'm still the same... just utterly blasted." The redhead laughed, curling up on an armchair across from the beanbag, bringing her legs up to her chest in an attempt to warm up. "Do you still have my wand? That stupid fire is out again and its absoutely baltic in here."

"Didn't Charlie teach you that one summoning charm in second year?" He sighed. "I have no clue where I put your wand."

"Give me yours and I'll try it." She held her hand out for his wand, which he reluctantly handed to her. "Don't look all ticked about it, you're the one who lost mine."

"Shut up and get your damn wand." He laughed, the sound of it being music to Eleanor's ears. 

"Accio Ellie's wand!" The girl exclaimed, flicking the brunette beside her's wand in a rainbow motion. After a few moments of silence and no sight of her own wand, she sighed and handed him back the wand that she was wearing. "Bloody hell. I knew it wasn't going to work."

"It's fine, let me go check in my dorm, maybe I left it in there." Cedric rose from his seat, stretching his arms over his head. This revealed a sliver of his toned and muscular torso, Eleanor's cheeks growing red. It wasn't a secret that the boy that she called her best friend was one of the most attractive people in her year, and that plenty of girls had the guts to go after him, even though he always let them down gently. The redhead never knew why he didn't get involved with anyone, actually— he could very easily get a girlfriend if he wished. But, it really wasn't much of her business after all. 

"All right, don't get lost on your way back." The girl joked lightly, resting her chin on her knees and gazing at the night sky though the circular windows at the top of the similarly shaped room. The moon was casting beautiful blue-toned streams of light into the dark room, the millions of stars twinkling against the blanket of navy behind it. It truly was beautiful. 

———

╭──────༺♡༻──────╮  


3880 words  
Completed and Proofread January 30th, 2021  


╰──────༺♡༻──────╯


	3. September 2nd, 1992.

6:30 A.M. BST.  
The Hufflepuff Girls Dormitories  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Eleanor woke up in her own bed. her body had been wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket that had little white star's embroidered into it, and her wand was right beside her at her nightstand. Underneath it was a small piece of ripped-off parchment, a tiny note scribbled on it in Cedric's spiky and hastily-drawn handwriting. 

Ellie,

I found your wand. Stop falling asleep in the common room, for Merlin's sake! How many times do I have to tell you, Weasley?

— Ced.

The obvious sarcasm made the girl laugh softly, her hand combing through her wild hair to push it away from her face. She set down the note and began to get ready for the day so that she'd have time to eat breakfast with her brothers for a bit before her friends swept her off to host a daily tradition that they had managed to maintain for the past few years. Every morning, they'd all meet up at the grand staircase and drop the latest gossip that they had discovered the night before. It was a little childish, yes, but it was one of the only times they could all get together without having to worry about school work, even for a few minutes.

Once she had showered and gotten dressed, Eleanor cast a quick drying spell on her curls and put on her tie, making sure the knot was perfectly in the center, that the tie itself looked symmetric, and that there wasn't a single wrinkle. She did the same with her woolen sweater, tucking it into her skirt and smoothing it out. The girl took great pride in her clothes looking as nice as possible and her appearance in general, really. Every single morning, she took her time making sure her curls were well-kept and fluffy (which they always were) and that the two pieces of hair, right beside her ears, that she tied back with a black clip every morning were flat against the rest of her head. She always flicked the dark eyeliner that she had purchased in Hogsmeade second year across her upper lid in perfect little wings, and always coated her lashes with a never-clumpy coat of mascara before even daring to let herself leave the room. Melanie had always been absolutely bewildered by her precision and need for precision, but secretly she admired her best friend for her organization and tight grasp on life.

Many people envied that aspect about Eleanor, actually, considering she was an impeccable student that all of the Professors favored (including Professor Snape, which was practically unheard of), along with her being one of the biggest pranksters at Hogwarts, next to Fred and George, of course. It was bewildering seeing her when she was in her element, which was at the library, either studying or concocting elaborate plans to keep her and her siblings from getting expelled. 

Regardless, after getting ready, the redhead folded her robes neatly and slung them over her arm, sliding her leather rucksack that her oldest brother, Bill, had gifted to her for her 13th birthday over her shoulder. She grabbed her wand last and finally exited the room, the rubber soles of her Oxford-style shoes (Another gift from Bill, actually. He had them enchanted so that they'd grow with her feet and never be too tight.) clicking against the sleek hardwood floor of the Hufflepuff basement. Barely anyone had awoken yet, only a few anxious first years. This allowed Eleanor to slip out relatively unnoticed, her feet carrying her quickly past the kitchens and to the main corridor. She hummed a random tune as she walked happily to the Great Hall, excited to see her brothers. 

"Merlin's beard, Weasley, since when did you look like that?" A deep voice chuckled from behind her, causing her to yelp and nearly jump out of her own skin. 

"Bloody hell, Leo, you need to stop doing that." She scoffed in response, trying to calm down from the scare that he just gave her. "And what do you mean? I always look like this." 

"No, you definitely did something new." Leonardo Atkins sped up and stood in front of her, bending down to get a better look at the Weasley's face. Eleanor did nothing more than scoff and hold back a smug smile as he did so, since his fake concentration did happen to be a little bit entertaining. "I don't know what you did, but you definitely were not this pretty last term." 

The girl laughed and smacked his arm before continuing on towards the Great Hall. "Stop bothering me and get back to your common room. You know you'll need to coax Theo out of bed before Snape gets on both of your arses." 

"You're right, I should probably go do that. I'll see you later?" 

"Obviously." She smiled and waved as he left, spinning her wand between her fingers as she turned into the practically-empty room, her family all hunched over a copy of the latest Daily Prophet. "What in Merlin's name are you all doing reading the newspaper? You look like Mum and Dad."   
"See for yourself, El. Ron's already gotten himself into heaps of trouble, and it's only the first day!" George commented, passing the Hufflepuff girl the newspaper. 

Her eyes scanned over the headline 'FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES!' shock running over her features. She scanned the rest of the article before whipping her head towards Ron and his accomplice, Harry Potter. 

"What in Godric's name were you thinking?" She said in pure awe before glancing at Fred and George. "Ronniekins, you should know by now not to try and one-up us." 

"Exactly, we'll always prevail, little one." George ruffled his hair and Fred echoed his dig and actions. Eleanor interfered after the boys had finished, leaning down and giving Ron a tight hug and an embarrassingly dramatic kiss upon his cheek. The 2nd year boy groaned, smacking her arms as his face flared an angry shade of crimson. "Oi! Watch your hands, Ron." 

"Oh bugger off, I barely touched her." 

"Georgie, he's only messing with me. Remember when he threw that muggle ball that Dad enchanted at my head and I tackled him off his broom? He hasn't messed with me since." 

"Speaking of Quidditch," Fred popped his head into the conversation once more. "You joining the team again, El?" 

"Of course! I wouldn't miss getting to smoke your arses on the pitch even if I got to go to an Abba concert, if they ever get back together, of course. And you know how much I love their music." The girl scoffed. It was true— a popular muggle band, Abba, had revealed themselves to the wizarding world, and it had skyrocketed their career. It had been kept a secret that the group was made up of four very successful witches and wizards from Sweden, and due to the group's disbandment, the wizarding world was only alerted of said information when their 'greatest hits' album was announced to be released September of this year. Eleanor had absolutely fallen in love with their music over the summer, and the lot of their discography was on a constant loop on the turntable in her dorm, as well as in her room at home. 

"I wouldn't be too sure, Weasley." Oliver Wood's silky and narcissistic voice surrounded the Hufflepuff as he walked up behind the family. Eleanor rolled her eyes and turned to face the brunette, her chin held up with pride. "With Harry and your brothers on our team, I'm sure winning this year will be a breeze." 

"In your dreams, Wood. We've got the upper hand this year. My friends and I have been practicing all summer long, and Diggory has become awfully good." She glanced over at the sheepish boy that was Harry Potter, who's eyes were wide. "Don't worry, Potter, he'll go easy on you."   
"You don't scare me, Weasley." Oliver grinned once more, the hard mask that he used when trying to talk sports with the girl faltering. "Besides, we should keep the trash-talking to the pitch. How was your summer?" 

"It was fun, actually. Yours?" 

"Would've been more fun if I had been able to visit you lot—" 

"Wood!" Percy bellowed from his seat, the tips of his ears red. "What have I told you about making advances on my little sister? She's fourteen for Merlin's sake." 

"I'm only making conversation, Weasley!" He responded before turning back to the girl. "Well, I must be going. It seems your brother is a little high strung at the moment." 

"You're telling me." She sighed, her eyes rolling. "I'll see you later, Wood." 

"You as well, Weasley." He winked at her, which made her internally gag. Once he had walked away, she sat down and grabbed a bowl of raspberries for breakfast. 

"And to think I'm just being polite to him." She sighed, popping one of the red berries in her mouth. "That's what, the second year in a row he's flirted with me?" 

"It's because you're good at Quidditch, El. Doesn't matter how pretty you are, only how good you play. It's ridiculous." George scoffed.   
"It's just sad!" She continued, taking a sip of her water afterwards. "Where's Ginny?" 

"No clue. I think she's still asleep." Fred answered. "Toss me a cherry, would ya?" 

The girl passed him the bowl and finished up her own food before standing up and finally putting on her robes, smoothing them out before buttoning the small button on the front. "I'm going to go catch Gin on her way in and then head to Divination, I'll see you lot later?"

"Of course—" 

"Library at half past four?" Fred finished George's thought, which made Eleanor smile. She loved when they did that. 

"Like always." 

"You still have the map, don't you?" 

"Yes, I do. I don't trust either of you with it. I'll see you then."

———

"Welcome, students, to Defense Against The Dark Arts. Though I doubt I'd need an introduction, I'm your new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart." The blonde professor said proudly from the front of the room, causing Eleanor and Eddie to look back at Penny and Finn, who looked just as weirded out. "I see all of you have purchased my books, and I was considering giving a pop quiz on some of the contents, but considering that previous classes have all done poorly, I've decided to fast forward straight to our lesson." 

"Merlin— is that a painting of Lockhart painting Lockhart?" Eddie huffed beneath his breath, causing the four teens to snicker beneath their hands. 

"He's awfully vain." Penny commented next, Finn smacking her arm to silence her. "What? It's not like I'm saying anything that isn't truthful!" 

"No, but I'd prefer if we didn't get detention on the first day, alright?" 

"Today's lesson is about... Cornish pixies!" The man exclaimed, pulling back a piece of cloth off of a cage. Inside of said cage were dozens of electric blue pixies that were no more than eight inches tall, their faces spiky and their voices so high that Eleanor swore that her ears would pop. 

"Merlin, are they dangerous?" A ravenclaw girl asked, her hands over her ears. The class watched in fear as the blonde professor held his hand over the latch to the cage. 

"I'll let you decide.." His fingers caught the sliding latch and freed the screaming pixies, squeals and shouts of the fourth years following soon afterwards. The blue creatures flew towards the students and the rest of the room, knocking over books and latching onto students. Two of them beelined towards Penny's hair, tugging on two different pieces on opposite sides of her head. 

"Help! Get these bloody things off of me!" She squealed, her arms swatting and failing about. Eddie and Finn immediately went to try and help, to no avail. 

"For Godric's sake, where is Lockhart?" Eleanor said as she mentally filed through all of the charms she could use to stop these blasted pixies. Towards the front of the class, Lockhart was busy fighting off a good few pixies of his own, much to the Hufflepuff's dismay. "He's bloody useless! We need something to make them slow down." 

"You're the charms expert, Weasley, do something!" A Gryffindor shouted from the left as the girl continued to think of a charm. 

Once one popped into her head, she raised her wand and flicked it in the shape of an M, shouting, "Arresto Momentum!" 

The pixies in Penny's hair slowed and allowed the Slytherin to slip away while Eleanor cast Immobulus on them and the rest of the pixies around the room. 

"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" Lockhart flailed his wand around, fear coated in his high-pitched screeches. Once he noticed that his pixies had been frozen, he looked at the redhead girl with a grin, his composure returning. "Tremendous job, Weasley! Fifteen points to Hufflepuff... do you mind helping me out and rounding them all up?"

———

"Merlin, Ellie, that sounds brilliant!" Cedric laughed, taking a bite from his sandwich as the two sat in the Great Hall, catching up over lunch. "You stopped a whole bunch of pixies before Lockhart could even try! It's no wonder Flitwick loves you." 

"Oh come on, it was two second year spells. I just did the logical thing to do." The redhead shrugged, taking a drink of her pumpkin juice. "But that Lockhart? He's off his rocker— he can't even control his own lesson plan." 

"He seems awfully vain as well, he has that painting up behind him and it gives me the creeps." The brunette shivered, taking another bite of his food. "But, besides the point, you excited for Quidditch? I heard you and Wood had a little encounter this morning." 

"How did you hear that? I swear to Merlin if that bloody git is spreading rumors about me again I'm going to shove my broom where the sun doesn't—" 

"RONALD WEASLEY!" The angry voice of Molly Weasley echoed though the room, causing everyone inside to go deathly silent. Eleanor's head whipped around and gazed towards her petrified brother, along with the rest of her siblings and the Gryffindors surrounding them. "HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME POSSESSED YOU INTO STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—" 

"Merlin's beard, is she going at him! Your mum doesn't really hold back, does she?" The brunette fourth year chuckled, peering over at the embarrassed boy at the Gryffindor table. Eleanor was nearly as embarrassed— her fingers gripped the bridge of her nose, and her eyebrows were incredibly furrowed. "Remind me to not get you in serious trouble, ever." 

"That should be a given, Cedric. Godric— those boys are going to be the death of me!" She groaned, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Not having siblings must be a bloody blessing." 

"Not really, it gets awfully boring. But you know, my dad spends a lot of time with me, and he tries to be like a sibling, but it's not the same. You've got what, seven people to do fun things with?" He shrugged, popping a grape in his mouth. "Built in friends." 

"You aren't wrong, I'll give you that much." The girl nodded, opening her Quidditch notebook that was resting on the table beside her with one hand, eating a spoonful of her soup with the other. "Anyways, back to Quidditch. We need to talk to Macavoy about tryouts this year, considering if we even want to make top two, we need a strong keeper. Last years was—" 

"Rough, to say the least." 

"Right. Our alternates for Chasers need to be able to keep up with Macavoy's rediculous training methods, and we need to make sure that we have at least one that's decent enough to step in for when Clara can't play because she's helping out Madam Pomfrey." 

"I heard Preece went to some expensive camp over the summer and he's gotten pretty good. Maybe he's an option?" The boy asked, to which Eleanor nodded and jotted down the name. 

"Okay, so we can scrimmage him in the first friendly?" 

"Ooh, El is on her first Quidditch ramble of the year! How much have I missed?" Penny slid into the seat to the right the redhead, peering over at the notebook. Emerson wasn't far behind Penny, and Dominic had swung himself into the seat on the right of Eleanor. 

"You lot still don't have a chance against us. You never do." Nic scoffed playfully. "You're too nice on the pitch." 

"Keep talking and I won't be." 

"Nic, don't get her too riled up already. Wouldn't want another outburst like last night." Eleanor sighed, looking back down at her notes. Vinnie had walked up and sat farther down the bench from Cedric, which only meant that Juliet wouldn't be far behind. "Though, it was quite funny." 

"Shut up, O'Connell. No one was talking to you." She grunted, looking back up at Cedric. "Have you seen Finn? I need to ask him and Blaine about their suggestions." 

"He's studying with Flitwick at the moment, I believe. His step-mum was on his arse about his grade last term." The brunette shrugged. "But I don't think there's any people we know who'd be up for the spot. We can wait for tryouts to see who's going to be trying out." 

"Sounds good." She sighed, turning towards Penny. "Have you been to Herbology yet? I heard Sprout's in an awful mood." 

"I had it right after DADA. That blasted Lockhart was trying to tell her how to care for the Whomping Willow that your brother flew into." The girl grabbed a buttered roll from the basket on the table, taking a bite and talking with her mouth full. "And she's repotting Mandrakes with the second years today." 

Melanie and Blaine had just walked up as the last part was said, which caused them and the other two Hufflepuffs to groan with distaste. Everyone knew how Mandrake day went— the second years normally always messed up somehow, and Professor Sprout was always in a wretched mood afterward. 

Chimes sounded through the Great Hall as lunch was over, which caused the group to disperse and go to their next classes. Eleanor and Cedric were the last to leave, as always, considering the girl normally dumped half of the contents of her bag out onto the lunch table. 

"You look angry, what's wrong?" The girl looked up at the boy, confused. "If this is over Vinnie and Juliet being gits, I can handle it. It's been four years of it now, I'm used to it." 

"But you shouldn't be, Ellie. You shouldn't have to deal with them constantly picking on you for no reason. They're all about being bloody purebloods until it comes to you, and it drives me mad." He huffed angrily, adjusting his bookbag on his shoulder. "And I know you've got thick skin, but you can't hold it all in forever." 

Eleanor's cheeks stretched with her soft smile. It was rare that someone paid that much attention to the little details of her, in all senses, so it always made her happy how much Cedric cared. "Thank you, Ced. Being completely honest, I'll eventually crack, but the time isn't now. You'll be the first to know when I do." 

"It doesn't make me any less worried." 

"The only thing you need to worry about is getting to Transfiguration on time. Stop dilly-dallying and let's go!"

———

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3314 words  
Completed and Proofread February 9th, 2021

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